When I originally built my home theater/listening room I wanted one central chair that I could sit in and have all to myself. I was very worried that a large sofa may negatively impact the acoustics. With time I to the conclusion that the extra acoustic dampening of a larger piece of furniture is actually an asset and not a liability. It's a 500 sq foot room with hardwood floors, so having some non-reflecting surfaces is good. After using a single chair for about 1.5 years, I made the decision to get a more comfortable reclining sofa put into the room. It turned out to be a good choice as it's more comfortable and my girlfriend can sit next to me when we're watching movies. I tried taking a picture of the sofa in the room but it's so dark that it wouldn't come out. My brother is coming up for Christmas with his DSLR camera so I will try to take some pictures with that as I'm sure it will be more visible (the iphone camera is just not cutting it). Once I have pictures I will post them. I posted a stock picture of the new sofa.

I'm interested in other people's experience. Large sofa, individual listening chair, bean bag chair, what do you have in your home?

The photo's a bit outdated in that I've removed all the three-foot-tall 9" Tube Traps shown along the side and rear walls, but the 16" Super Trap remains in the rear corner. I relate to the need for and placement of stuffed furniture to provide a modicum of absorption to help cope with the reflections generated with an extensive area of hardwood floor in this 29'6"-long room.

Definitely more comfortable than the previous chair. I especially notice the difference when watching a long movie. This became very evident with my recent viewing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray!

Ahh....none of you have experienced the wonders of the THUNDER COUCH!!!! Though I wish I could say I came up with this all on my own, an old friend first introduced me to a cheap TC. Basically take a couch or loveseat, or a chair for that matter, though the bigger the better(youll see what I mean in a sec). And simply build a "platform" subwoofer that fires up into the couch. Sounds hokey, I know. But then again I used to do car audio systems that essentially did the same thing just with giant boxes behind the seats in king cab trucks.

My current plan for a TC is in my pool table room where the system will be completely stealth so hiding the subs is double duty. Will use four of these bad boys, originally used for autosound, or I should say for prosound....JBL reconed some pro speakers, I forget the model to heavier cones and 4ohm nom vc for car audio. I was originally going to put these in the bed of my "toy hauler" but decided to refine the system to a pair of tens in a prefab plastic box under the rear seat. Much, like my pooltable room, all my auto audio systems are all stealth these days...or as stealth as possible. any way here is one of the JBL 15" subs that will go under the couch that will be elevated about nine inches on a platform to give the over all height the same as most "pool hall" chairs. Have included a few other pics.....

Ok....just kidding this is one of the 18" versions of the same speakers, this has obviously seen better days, still plays but besides the dust cap has a collapsed spider....needs recone. Have another that is in great shape for its age, plan on using it as a solo sub under the "thunder bed"(hehe...more on that later...a system for EVERY room, I say!).

here is the 18" and the 15" side by side, have 4 of the 15"s BNIB...evil grin...... and yes that is a reference cd next to the speakers for reference... for further reference that is a 4.5'x9' pool table they are on......

....and of course, just to show off...its a family affair from 18's to 10's...I am told there are 8" and or 6" versions, but I have never seen them(and I used to sell them)....but never say never. The twelve in this pic had an ugly dustcap so thought the previous owner, so he painted over it....grrr....some people....lol.

Looks like a great project. So what is the difference between these and the typical "rumble seats" that they sell, which are essentially the same technology as speakers, a piece of metal moved back and forth by magnetic field, except it's not designed to make sound and is usually encased in a metal housing. I have been in theaters where they have the seats rumble. I'm kind of torn whether I would like this as a continuous part of my system or more of a gimmick thing that I would quickly tire of with continued use. I watch a lot of movies, and although it's kind of cool for big explosions, I'm not sure if I would want this rattling my butt during comedies or dramas just because there is some low end in the musical score. Maybe if it had a switch so I can turn it on for some things, and turn it off for others? But that's just me, some people will obviously enjoy this with everything. The other thing is that my Hsu VTF-15H shakes the room rather intensely with deep low end. I actually had to apply some silicone caulk to a stained glass window insert in my home theater as it was rattling with 16-30 hz range sounds.

ahh..forget the names of those buzzers....I called them butt shakers, I think that might actually be close to one of the manufacturers. They were also used in car audio for systems that just didnt have the air space to get that "low". Not really meant for the "bass heads"either, more for sound quality....hah...what a joke...

In reality they were just ac motors with a "cam" that was slightly offset from the center shaft. You could run an amp straight to the ones I installed, worked just like speakers if I remember correctly. Never really liked them myself....ugh brain fart, Aura Bass Shakers was the first I think. Then there was at least one more company that came out with something similar that had a dedicated "amp".

Honestly have never experienced them in theaters, I hate the cost, the crowds, the cost, plus I am patient, I'll even wait for them to come out cheap on Blu-ray to buy. Do have netflix, but that is a constant battle with the wife, did I mention I hated the cost?!?!. I could by the Bluray when it release for the cost. We have VERY different tastes when it comes to some things... I have been to maybe two or three movies in the last 15 years, couldnt wait for X-men Last Stand, and also went to last Matirx. Wife had got movie gift cards as presents from work....and it STILL COST TOO MUCH.....lmao.....

Back to the butt shakers, they were prone to being overdriven as you could not hear them distort, you would just burn the motor up. I say just buy the right speaker and build the right box. The thunder couch has been drawn up, run though my speaker design software with 4 of those fifteens....it still wont go below 40hz or so at 3db down, but really, its not needed. I was going to build the platform anyway, throwing some speakers under the couch came as a secondary idea for once....lol. Now the upstairs subs, well they will use that same "bassment" for a dual IB setup. I'll have both front and rear Infinite Baffle subs in the floor, right now with 12 12's, for each one. So depending on how it comes out, that may be the sub for the basement system as well and I will just turn the TC on for a good laugh, or a good "back" rub....lol.